


Our Glorious Rivalry

by clocky



Category: Final Fantasy V
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Humor, Love Confessions, M/M, Queer author, Rivalry, just a very silly and cheesy fic about two dudes being guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 05:42:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15357504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clocky/pseuds/clocky
Summary: Bartz and Gilgamesh have a sparring match which leads to some unexpected revelations.





	Our Glorious Rivalry

"Have at you!" Gilgamesh thundered, thrusting his spear in the general direction of Bartz, who didn't even feel the need to pretend to dodge this time. At this point they were really just playing along with the whole fighting thing, or at least Bartz was, since he knew that Gilgamesh would never _really_ hurt him. That was the funny thing about him, despite how often he would show up out of nowhere and demand to battle his supposed rival, he never showed any real animosity; in fact if anything there was an overwhelming _fondness_ in the way Gilgamesh would look at him.

Bartz didn't dislike it. In fact, it was the reason he kept playing this little game. 

"Oh ho, getting cocky, are we?" Gilgamesh planted his hands on his hips and let out a booming laugh. "But now is not the time to let your guard down! Today is the day that I, Gilgamesh, finally claim victory over you!" 

Bartz opened his mouth, a playful retort on the tip of his tongue, but before he could respond, Gilgamesh lunged at him, catching him by surprise as he was shoved up against the nearest tree. 

"Ha! Your hubris has become your downfall!" Gilgamesh laughed again, his large hands clutching Bartz' shoulders and holding him in place. "You may forfeit now, if you so desi--oof!" 

Bartz' small build allowed him to easily slip out of Gilgamesh's grip and quickly elbow him in the ribs before jumping away, putting a bit of distance between them. An easy grin crossed his features as he straightened up, lilting his head to one side and rubbing his nose. "Who said I was quitting?" 

Gilgamesh's smile grew wide, his expression practically gleeful. "Of course! I should have expected more from my chosen rival!" He crooned in delight, clambering to his feet from where he had fallen backwards onto his rear. "Bartz! Come, let's settle this once and for all!" 

"Sure thing," Bartz agreed, and without warning he was suddenly pulling off a rapid job change, morphing into a Dragoon--mimicking his opponent's own class. The sharp, dark armor glinted in the light of the setting sun, and by the way Gilgamesh's eyes had widened, Bartz was pretty sure he looked damn cool. "So, en garde, or whatever?" Bartz grinned underneath his armored mask, eyes bright with amusement. 

"Um--yes!" Gilgamesh shook his head, clearly caught off guard. He struck a particularly silly pose while pointing his spear at Bartz. "Let us do battle! Finally, just the two of us, as it was always destined to be!" 

"We've fought one-on-one like a hundred times now, but okay," Bartz agreed, and suddenly he had launched himself into the air, going only so high as to reach the tree line before plummeting back down directly behind Gilgamesh. He whipped around, swinging his spear clumsily, but Bartz was too fast, ducking underneath Gilgamesh's attacks and using the shaft of his own spear to easily sweep Gilgamesh's legs out from under him. 

Gilgamesh fell backwards ungracefully, hitting the forest floor with an "Oof!" as Bartz straightened up, trying not to laugh. He pulled down the portion of the mask covering his face and grinned at his fallen friend. "That's strike two. Care to try your luck again? Or maybe you've had enough?" 

Gilgamesh crossed his arms and pouted, mumbling something under his breath before sighing and giving Bartz a defeated look. "I suppose it can't be helped," he grumbled, "Even a seasoned warrior such as myself must occasionally lose to such a worthy opponent." 

Bartz decided not to point out that Gilgamesh didn't actually win very often in the first place. Instead, he offered his hand to help the much larger man up from the ground. "Hey, you weren't so bad yourself. You almost had me with the-- _HEY!!!_ " Bartz yelped as he was yanked down to the ground and flipped over so he was pinned beneath Gilgamesh. 

"Ha! Fooled you!!!" Gilgamesh boasted triumphantly. "As if I would concede so easily!" 

"Goddammit, Gil, that's playing dirty!" Bartz protested, attempting to squirm away for a few seconds, but quickly giving up as he realized there was really no way around the fact that Gilgamesh weighed about five times as much as he did (and that was _before_ he morphed--Bartz was suddenly glad that the battle hadn't gone on long enough for that to happen.) "You're a damn cheater," he insisted sullenly. 

"Deception is a finely tuned art that all warriors must learn to use to their advantage," Gilgamesh replied smugly, and _ooh_ sometimes Bartz just wanted to smack him. Alright, maybe he didn't want to go that far, but it made him want to do _something._

"Alright, you win. You've got me," Bartz conceded, "So now what?" 

"Huh?" 

"I said, now what?" Bartz repeated, a bit impatiently. "Are you going to let me up?" 

Gilgamesh paused. "Well, if I did that, surely you would attempt to gain the upper hand once again...Only a fool would allow that to happen!" 

Bartz rolled his eyes, but a mischievous smile tugged at his lips. "That's a very convenient excuse to keep me pinned underneath you. Is there something you want to tell me?" 

"...Huh?" Gilgamesh responded eloquently. A few seconds of confused silence passed between them before it suddenly clicked. "What? No! I mean..." he stammered, his face slowly flushing red. "That's not what--I mean--unless you wanted me to--" 

"What?!? Get up!" Bartz laughed, gently pushing against Gilgamesh's chest. 

The larger man quickly fumbled his way up off of Bartz, scooting backwards on the grass. How did this happen?!? One minute he'd had the upper hand and now his rival had him at a complete disadvantage. And he was laughing at him! 

"...What?" Bartz chuckled, sitting up and brushing himself off. "Hey c'mon, I didn't mean to embarrass you. You were just getting heavy, that's all." He paused. "And that isn't a crack about your size. In fact, I like my men _large_ and _in charge,_ " he grinned. 

Large and in charge! Now Bartz was surely making fun of him. Gilgamesh glared at the ground, still blushing furiously. Admittedly they had both taken cheap shots to gain the upper hand, but did Bartz have to be so--so _flippant_ with the implications behind his words? 

Because yes, he kind of had hit the nail on the head, but that only made it worse. Gilgamesh absolutely did have feelings for Bartz, but it wasn't as if he would ever let that come between them--he'd much rather have a platonic rivalry than none at all. And anyway, he wouldn't even know how to begin attempting to have that conversation. He thought he'd been hiding it all rather well up til now, but apparently Bartz was not only aware of his feelings--he saw fit to crack jokes about it! 

And that hurt. 

"Gil? Hey, are you okay?" Bartz scooched a little closer, tilting his head to the side. "Did I hurt your feelings?" He reached out to touch his shoulder, and Gilgamesh's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. "It's just a dumb battle, okay? I don't really care who won." 

Gilgamesh opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. Bartz' hand felt like it was burning a hole through his shoulder, making it difficult to even think of what to say. He took a deep breath, steeling himself a bit, and forced himself to look Bartz in the eyes--and the genuine concern he saw there threw him for a loop. "It's--it's not about the battle," he managed to mumble, shifting uncomfortably. Did Bartz really not know why he was upset? "It's because I _like_ you, and--and I didn't think you would make fun of me for that." 

For a second, Bartz simply looked confused--but then the realization hit him and his eyes grew wide. "Oh! Oh." He scratched the back of his head, feeling his face grow warm. "Well then." That certainly hadn't been what he was expecting to hear, although in retrospect it was kind of obvious, wasn't it? The way Gilgamesh sometimes spoke of his time in the Rift and how it had been thoughts of Bartz that kept him going...their playful, almost flirty banter whenever they fought...now that he knew, Bartz wondered how he could have possibly missed it. 

But wait, Gilgamesh was still waiting for an answer! "I, um, I didn't know," he stammered, looking everywhere except at his friend's face. "I definitely wasn't making fun of you. I mean, not about that--we make fun of each other all the time, but--I wouldn't--" Oh, why did he sound so awkward? Bartz kind of wanted to disappear, at least for a little while. Maybe then he could sort out all these strange feelings stirring up inside him. 

Gilgamesh, meanwhile, felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders--Bartz hadn't been laughing at his feelings at all!--but the relief he felt was short lived as he realized that he had, in fact, just inadvertently confessed to Bartz. And now his beloved rival seemed to be deliberately avoiding looking him in the eye, which couldn't possibly be a good sign...! His mind raced as he tried to think of a way out of this situation that wouldn't indefinitely make things endlessly awkward between them--and he immediately went with the first thing that popped into his head. 

"J-just kidding!" he yelled a little too loudly, visibly startling Bartz. "As if I would jeopardize our glorious rivalry with something so trivial as romance! Had you going there, didn't I!" 

Bartz just stared for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. Then, "Oh. I--haha, yeah. You sure had me fooled." His gaze flickered down to the ground once more, then back up at Gilgamesh. "I mean, that would be silly, right? It would never work. Us, I mean. Together. Like that." 

Gilgamesh nodded a little too quickly. "Y-yes! That's why it was such a good joke." 

"Right." 

"Yup." 

A silence settled between them for a moment, and then: 

"Hey, Gil?" 

Gilgamesh opened his mouth to ask "Yes?" but the word never left him, because suddenly Bartz was close--really, really close--getting closer, almost touching--and then he was kissing him. 

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but to Gilgamesh it felt like an eternity--he was acutely aware of how soft Bartz' lips were against his, his heart practically pounding out of his chest, his brain reduced down to a single thought: Bartz is kissing me, _Bartz is kissing me, BARTZ IS KISSING ME!---_

And then it was over as quickly as it began, Bartz pulling away, leaving Gilgamesh's lips slightly parted in shock, his face practically on fire. He desperately tried to think of something, anything, to say but his mind just wouldn't cooperate. 

Bartz couldn't help but grin cheekily at Gilgamesh's reaction, though he too was blushing furiously. "So I mean, I guess if you want to give this a try, I'm game." 

Gilgamesh was still having trouble getting his brain to catch up. "Give what a try?" was all he could manage to ask. 

"What do you mean, 'give what a try'?" Bartz was laughing now as he gently punched Gilgamesh in the arm. "I just kissed you! Do you want to date me or don't you?" 

"Wha--yes!!! O-of course I do! Do _you_ want to?" 

"Yes!" Bartz laughed, leaning in for another quick peck on the cheek. Then he was getting to his feet, brushing the grass from his clothes and holding out his hand to Gilgamesh. "Now that that's settled, how about a rematch?" 

Gilgamesh felt like his heart was going to burst from happiness as he gladly took Bartz' hand and leapt to his feet. "Of course! You're still my chosen rival after all!" He was still reeling a bit from the suddeness of it all, but in the best way possible. Bartz was interested in him--something he had never even dared to hope would happen--and he still wanted to fight him too! Gilgamesh grabbed his spear from where it had lay forgotten on the forest floor and pointed it at dramatically at his friend. "Get ready, Bartz! This time I won't be holding back!" 

"Glad to hear it," Bartz grinned, retrieving his own spear and proceeding to strike a similar, equally silly pose. "Have at you!" 

And so their endless battle resumed, wide smiles on both their faces.

**Author's Note:**

> not enough gilbartz content out there so i made some more of my own. comment if you like it! find me on tumblr @jogress


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